


the moon song

by reyslovebot



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cottage Au, F/F, M/M, Short Story, modern day AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27781393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reyslovebot/pseuds/reyslovebot
Summary: from the point of view of cynical Rose, who spends her days in a small cottage in the countryside; her warm summers and ferocious winter nights are spent lonesome - up until an unexpected visitor is brought into her company. this one short, hazy summer of yearning haunts Rose as she recounts it from years in the future - a summer of falling love with a stranger named Rey.(title is based on the song "The Moon Song" by Beabadoobee)
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Rose Tico
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	the moon song

**Author's Note:**

> hi! so this is my first fic - i'm not a great writer but i just thought of this idea and i couldn't not give it a go! again, i'm a pretty clumsy writer so you'll have to bear with me as there will probably be quite a few mistakes :')
> 
> _**important disclaimer!! - i understand the characters may not act very canon-ly (???) so they might not be very familiar as i tend to make a lot of random headcanons! also — all the characters are about 20 years old!**_
> 
> anyways, that's all i think - i hope you enjoy! and feel free to leave your thoughts or any constructive criticism!  
>    
> **content warnings: food, death mention ****** __  
>  ****
> 
> ****

**Chapter One: A Visit From A Stranger ******

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**March 2020 ******

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I lived alone in a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. Winters brought ferociously cold nights, and in Summer, I spent my days at my neighbour’s farm, helping out with the crops. However, along with the turn of the Earth, that summer brought something new; a visitor. 

I had only agreed to let Rey stay with me that summer because of how Finn had nagged me (almost daily) — apparently she’d grown sick of the bustling city life where she, Finn and Poe had been living for past three years (along with their cat, BB8, of course). The matter of the fact was that, firstly; I pitied her for having to exist in that house as the third wheel for so long, and secondly; despite my normally reclusive nature, I had, deep down, longed for someone to spend time with, even if it was a girl I had never met before.

In the weeks leading up to her arrival, my days had been taken up with deep cleaning my cottage, as I had grown hyperaware of its filth after months of me disregarding cleanliness – to be fair, I rarely had visitors anyway.

It was Thursday morning when I heard the doorbell ring, still in my pyjamas — due to my laziness to set an alarm the night before (looking back now, I didn’t find this as embarrassing as I really, really should’ve). When I opened the door, I was met with the stranger.

“Hi - I’m Rey! You must be Rose!” the stranger said and (with a little too much enthusiasm), jabbed out her hand to shake mine. She glanced at what I was wearing. “Wait am I early? I’m sorry, I can-”

“No, no you’re not early. I’m just… unorganised.”

For a moment, we stood in awkward silence.

“So… can I come in?” Rey chuckled nervously.

“Oh, god, yes, of course – come in.”

Letting the stranger into my house, I cringed with embarrassment – luckily, I managed to form something coherent to say;

“Let me show you to your room.”

The stranger smiled warmly, a contrast to my cold welcome.

***

The next few weeks we spent together were hazy and hushed; we barely spoke a word but carried out the errands required in a mutual acknowledgement that I previously imagined only came with knowing someone a long time. In fact, I remember vividly how it felt sitting down to eat those first several meals together – it was homely, comfortable; a feeling I realised I had been missing for a long time. Not that I told her that — not at this point.

“It’s remarkably boring, this place. Particularly if you compare it to the city, right?” I said as I served up Rey’s plate with some Shepherd’s Pie we had cooked together.

“No, no it’s been great!,” Rey remarked with her usual animated nature, “I mean, it’s obviously been a change but I honestly can’t imagine a nicer place to spend the summer – this looks amazing, doesn’t it!” she said as I placed her plate down, “anyways yeah. What plans do you have tomorrow?”

Sitting down, I chuckled, “actually not a lot, surprisingly. The farmer next door has his son round so I won’t be needed over there. I guess we have a free day”, I sighed, “any ideas of what we could do?” I already knew she would have ideas.

Rey melodramatically scratched her head in thought. It was endearing — but I managed to stop myself from smiling.

“Umm, I guess I’ve been interested in exploring the fields a bit more – maybe we could take a picnic or something!”

I rolled my eyes. She was grinning at me like a child.

“Alright then.” I said, laughing.

***

Early the next morning, I found Rey in the kitchen making sandwiches – she was wearing an apron on top of a long smock dress printed with little daisies, its hem almost covering her worn down, tiny, white plimsols.

“You’re wearing those to go on walk around the countryside?”

She turned around confused, still half-focused on buttering a slice of bread, “Huh? What’s wrong with them!?”

“I mean if you want to get them covered in cow shit-“

“Sorry! Well I don’t have any others!” Rey exclaimed.

“What? You’ve been wearing those all these weeks…?”

“Yeah!” She laughed, “I’m not exactly used to such muddy terrain, coming from the city!”

“Right, you can borrow a pair of mine if you want,” I said, smirking.

“Ah, thank you!” Rey smiled. Her whole focus was on me now. — I suddenly felt strangely self-conscious.

“Right -- do you need any help with the picnic?”

“Actually, I’ve just finished. I’m ready to set off when you are!” she said, rubbing her hands down on the apron.

With that, we wrapped up in our coats – as despite the imminent arrival of the summer months, the cold air was still piercing there in the North – and we set off on our way around the fields which I had seen countless times before.

The two of us walked (Rey, at points, basically skipping) down country lanes, forests, past rivers, right up until reaching our destination; the meadow. I had come here since I was young, its landscape striking in even the foggiest of my memories that depicted my parents and sister playing here so, so long ago. It was bittersweet in the most beautiful way – to think that I had brought a new-found comfort to a spot reminiscent of so much that had been lost.

“This place is beautiful!” Rey remarked, in practically a whisper, breaking my train of thought. I remember how her dark, auburn eyes were clearly mused by the meadow’s colours and enchantment.

“Let’s sit down.” I held out my hand for the picnic basket, but instead found Rey’s hand in mine. She noticed my surprise.

“Oh my god, sorry,” she giggled.

I couldn’t help smiling. “No, it’s okay,” I said, as took her hand and led her to a place to sit.

***

“Did you know the Victorians had a whole language for flowers?”

Rey looked at me confusedly — her brow furrowed and mouth forming a pout — clearly she was too kind to tell me that she had no idea what I was on about.

“As in, they had whole list of meanings for each flower.” I scanned the meadow. “Well, Agrimonia symbolised thankfulness, so like, if I wanted to thank you for something, I could just... give you a bunch of Agrimonia.”

She smiled sheepishly – not in an awkward way – I could tell she was genuinely interested.

“And I remember every birthday, my mother would give me a bouquet of Cinquefoils… which I think symbolised maternal affection or something – I have a book on it – I can show you back at the cottage.”

“Yeah, I’d like that! Thanks!” She was too sweet, sometimes.

“Right. She was kind of obsessed with history and all that – my Mum that is – I guess I never really understood it at the time. Looking back, I wish I had paid more attention, to be honest. While I had the time.“

I was rambling — not something I was used to, in all honesty. But, I knew had spoken too much – Rey had looked down at some grass she was tearing apart in her hands, clearly uncomfortable. As I was about to change the topic, Rey beat me to it;

“Rose, I hope you don’t mind me asking but… what happened to your family? Ah! Sorry if that was too forward… um never mind.” She noticed I had grown upset.

“Um- It’s okay. It was a long time ago.” I shifted awkwardly, trying my hardest to form the right words. “When I was about 10, my parents where in an accident. They… they didn’t survive. Obviously,” I painfully joked. “Well, me and my sister were packed off to different families and… and that was it. Everything torn apart. In a matter of days.”

“I’m sorry.” She was struggling to find something to say. “I wish I could give advice. I was much younger than you were when I lost my family. I can barely remember what I even missed from it!” She continued to absent-mindedly tear apart the grass from the earth beside her.

I nodded in understanding.

“Although, turns out, I missed out in a lot!” she chuckled uneasily, “Again, I’m so sorry, Rose.”

“It’s okay. Thank you.”

Rey smiled feebly, knowing that she could not really help. Her glances at me reeked of sympathy – her goddamn eyes were big pools of helplessness – a look, over the past couple decades, I had grown sick of. However, somehow, her presence made things better, better in a strange way – like someone holding your hand as you die; hopeless at solving anything in reality but somehow made things seem a lot less overwhelming.

In that lapse of my awareness of the world around us – it was just me and Rey. I had realised that I finally found something that I could – for once – hold onto.


End file.
